worlddirect/buildinfo

Contains system information messages for showing informations about the current build.

2.1.0 2026-02-18 13:10 UTC

Requires

• typo3/cms-core: ^11 || ^12 || ^13 || ^14

Requires (Dev)

• captainhook/captainhook: ^5.16
• ergebnis/composer-normalize: ^2.30
• friendsofphp/php-cs-fixer: ^3.16
• michielroos/typo3scan: ^1.7
• phpmd/phpmd: ^2.9
• seld/jsonlint: ^1.8
• vimeo/psalm: dev-master

Replaces

• typo3-ter/buildinfo: 2.1.0

GPL-2.0-only

• Klaus Hörmann-Engl

• build
• versioning
• typo3
• docker
• info

README

Display build information in the TYPO3 backend system information toolbar, including build numbers, timestamps, and Git version tags.

Table of Contents

• TYPO3 Extension: Buildinfo
  • Table of Contents
  • Features
  • Requirements
  • Installation
    • Via Composer (recommended)
  • Configuration
    • Extension Configuration
    • File Locations
  • How It Works
    • Display Logic
    • Build Information Display
  • Usage Examples
    • CI/CD Integration
      • GitLab CI Example
      • GitHub Actions Example
    • Docker Builds
      • Dockerfile Example
    • Manual Setup
    • Advanced: Custom File Locations
  • Troubleshooting
    • Information Not Showing
    • Wrong Timestamp Format
    • File Permission Errors
    • Docker Container Issues
  • Support
  • License
  • Credits
    • Development

Features

• Build Number Display: Shows current build number in the backend toolbar
• Build Timestamp: Displays when the current build was created with age indicator
• Git Version: Shows the Git tag or commit version
• Flexible Configuration: Customize file locations via extension configuration
• CI/CD Ready: Perfect for Docker-based deployments with automated builds
• Non-Intrusive: Only displays information when files are present
• Auto-Formatting: Timestamps are automatically formatted as human-readable dates with age
• Backend Integration: Seamlessly integrates with TYPO3's system information toolbar

Requirements

• TYPO3 11.0 - 14.9
• PHP 7.4 or higher

Installation

Via Composer (recommended)

composer require worlddirect/buildinfo

Configuration

Extension Configuration

Configure file locations through the TYPO3 Extension Manager or by adding to your site's configuration.

Setting	Description	Default
buildNumberFile	File containing the build number	buildNumber.txt
buildTimestampFile	File containing the build timestamp (Unix)	buildTimestamp.txt
gitVersionFile	File containing the Git version/tag	gitVersion.txt

Important: All file paths are relative to your TYPO3 project root directory (Environment::getProjectPath()).

File Locations

By default, the extension looks for files in the project root:

/var/www/html/
├── buildNumber.txt
├── buildTimestamp.txt
├── gitVersion.txt
├── public/
└── vendor/

You can configure different paths:

config/build/buildNumber.txt
config/build/buildTimestamp.txt
config/build/gitVersion.txt

How It Works

Display Logic

The extension uses TYPO3's PSR-14 SystemInformationToolbarCollectorEvent to inject build information into the backend toolbar:

1. File Check: For each configured file, the extension checks if it exists
2. Content Reading: If a file exists, its content is read
3. Formatting: Timestamps are formatted as human-readable dates (e.g., "18.02.2026 14:30:00 (3 days old)")
4. Toolbar Display: Information is added to the system information dropdown
5. Missing Files: If a file doesn't exist, that information is simply not displayed

Build Information Display

The toolbar shows:

• Build Number: Arbitrary version or build identifier
• Build Date: Formatted timestamp with age calculation
• Git Version: Tag, branch, or commit hash

Usage Examples

CI/CD Integration

GitLab CI Example

build:
  stage: build
  script:
    # Generate build number
    - echo "${CI_PIPELINE_ID}" > buildNumber.txt
    
    # Generate build timestamp
    - date +%s > buildTimestamp.txt
    
    # Generate Git version
    - git describe --tags --always > gitVersion.txt
    
    # Build your project
    - docker build -t myapp:${CI_PIPELINE_ID} .

GitHub Actions Example

- name: Generate Build Information
  run: |
    echo "${{ github.run_number }}" > buildNumber.txt
    date +%s > buildTimestamp.txt
    git describe --tags --always > gitVersion.txt

Docker Builds

Dockerfile Example

FROM php:8.3-apache

# Your build steps...

# Add build information
ARG BUILD_NUMBER
ARG GIT_VERSION
RUN echo "${BUILD_NUMBER}" > /var/www/html/buildNumber.txt && \
    date +%s > /var/www/html/buildTimestamp.txt && \
    echo "${GIT_VERSION}" > /var/www/html/gitVersion.txt

COPY . /var/www/html/

Build with:

docker build \
  --build-arg BUILD_NUMBER=$(git rev-list --count HEAD) \
  --build-arg GIT_VERSION=$(git describe --tags --always) \
  -t myapp:latest .

Manual Setup

For development or manual deployments:

# Build number (e.g., incremental number or version)
echo "1.2.3" > buildNumber.txt

# Build timestamp (Unix timestamp)
date +%s > buildTimestamp.txt

# Git version (current tag or commit)
git describe --tags --always > gitVersion.txt

Advanced: Custom File Locations

Configure via extension settings to use a custom directory:

builds/current/number.txt
builds/current/timestamp.txt
builds/current/version.txt

Troubleshooting

Information Not Showing

Problem: Build information doesn't appear in the backend toolbar

Solutions:

• Verify files exist in the configured location (default: project root)
• Check file permissions (must be readable by web server)
• Ensure files contain valid content (not empty)
• Clear TYPO3 caches: Admin Tools → Flush Caches
• Check exact file paths in Extension Manager configuration

Wrong Timestamp Format

Problem: Timestamp shows incorrectly or not at all

Solutions:

• Ensure timestamp file contains a Unix timestamp (seconds since epoch)
• Generate with: date +%s > buildTimestamp.txt
• Verify file content is numeric: cat buildTimestamp.txt
• File should contain only the number, no extra whitespace or newlines

File Permission Errors

Problem: PHP can't read the build information files

Solutions:

# Set appropriate permissions
chmod 644 buildNumber.txt buildTimestamp.txt gitVersion.txt

# Ensure web server user can read
chown www-data:www-data build*.txt gitVersion.txt

Docker Container Issues

Problem: Files not present in Docker container

Solutions:

• Verify files are created during Docker build process
• Check files are in correct location within container
• Use docker exec to inspect container: docker exec -it container ls -la /var/www/html/
• Ensure files aren't excluded by .dockerignore

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Source Code: GitHub Repository
• Author: Klaus Hörmann-Engl [e-mail]
• Company: World-Direct eBusiness solutions GmbH

License

This extension is licensed under GPL-2.0-only. See LICENSE file for details.

Credits

Developed and maintained by Klaus Hörmann-Engl at World-Direct eBusiness solutions GmbH.

Happy Building! 🚀